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Richard, maybe Martinez is sick of his party and is just giving them a big FU by putting Crist in this position.
We Can NOT Inflate Our Way Out of The Debt Trap
UBS economist Paul Donovan shows that governments can't inflate their way out of debt traps:
Inflation pessimists cling resolutely to the belief that inflation will inevitably return. “Fiscal deficits are rising dramatically” goes the argument. “Governments will have to create inflation to reduce debt: GDP ratios, as they have done in the past.”
The problem with the idea of governments inflating their way out of a debt burden is that it does not work. Absent episodes of hyper-inflation, it is a strategy that has never worked. Government debt: GDP burdens tend to be positively correlated with inflation. Market mythology has created the idea that inflation will help reduce government debt ratios. The facts do not support the myth. [G]overnment debt rises as inflation rises. Meaningful reductions in government debt will require a low inflation future...
The higher debt service cost becomes a problem for a government that is pursuing an inflation strategy because government debt does have to be rolled over. Unless a government is willing to pursue hyper-inflation as a strategy, raising inflation will not reduce the government debt burden. Indeed, history indicates that the reverse result will be achieved.
So if inflation isn't the ticket out of the debt trap, what is?
According to Ellen Brown, even countries which are so deep in debt that they are bankrupt have regained prosperity by taking over the money and credit creation functions from private banks. See this and this.
Abolishing the Fed and the other private central banks and reclaiming the sovereign power to create money may be the only way out of the debt trap.
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/
Richard,
LOL. 'Love your Mel Martinez post. I was thinking along the same lines.
Shardenfreude . . .
It seems that we have quickly forgotten how "public" rallies that were held during Bush's tenure were so exclusive. People wearing any anti-war or anti-GOP messages (or even having such indicators in their wallets!) were not only not allowed to attend the rally, but some were arrested.
Now, shouting people down or beating them up is happening without many consequences.
Jenny Sanford, the wife and sole-mate of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, is moving out SO does this mean that María Belén Chapur, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’ soul-mate is moving on up?
Mel Martinez (R-Foley’s State) is announcing his EARLY resignation.
Now taking bets on the type of sex scandal:
1. Man\Men
2. Woman\Women
3. Under age
4. Sex worker
5. Employee
6. Foreigner(s)
7. Animal\Animals
10. Inanimate objects(s)
OR what it choosing a Latina Justice over the NRA?
http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/
Just a reminder today is Friday August 7th 2009, it is no longer the 6th of August. someone's calendar is out of sync.
It appears that Bush really did consider his war as being a religious crusade.
Bush:Iraq must be invaded to thwart Gog and Magog
Prior to the invasion of Iraq, President Bush told French President Jacques Chirac that " Iraq must be invaded to thwart Gog and Magog *, the Bible’s satanic agents of the Apocalypse."(1)
Yes, thats right, Gog and Magog. Mr. Chirac recounted ( in two 2007 interviews and a recently published book ) a strange conversation he had with Bush as his administration was soliciting allies to assemble the “coalition of the willing”( to support the Iraq invasion). Bush appealed to their “common faith” with this disturbing and cryptic revelation:
http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2009/8/6/223252/5647/Diary/Bush-Iraq-...
Though this is old news, it shows how scary it can get when one takes the myth as being literally & historically true.
Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/health/policy/06insure.html?_r=4&hp
I just wanted to say how great it is to hear Thom focusing on inequality. I first became sensitized to this issue when I found Robert Reich's lecture "How Unequal Can America Get Before We Snap? " on his site. I highly recommend you listen to it if you're interested in this subject.
Personally, I think inequality is less important than social mobility. However, I also think inequality can be a good measure of mobility - after all, we're all born pretty much the same. There isn't a 1000 to 1 difference in the intelligence or productivity between the best among us and the average person, so when income inequality reaches that level it's a sign that the system is broken. I think many libertarians buy into the Randian myth that the vast majority of people are parasites, and that there are very few innovators who actually are 1000 times more clever or creative than the average person. To them, extreme inequality is the sign of a healthy society.
Maria Cantwell just came out unequivocally for a full public option on the Bill Press Show this morning. She suggested that the bill they vote out of Finance Committee will not have it but that it will be in the final bill. She likes the HELP Committee bill. Her comments sounded very unforced and well thought out, suggesting that this has been her view all along. I think she is being somewhat subdued about Public Option advocacy until the bill is out of Finance Committee.
It was nice to hear.
Thom, you missed your chance to tell Epstein that people can't afford to work for low wages if more things are not covered in "The Commons". I can't afford to wait tables for 8 dollars an hour if I have to build the road from my house to the restaurant. If people are required to cover so many of their own costs and be responsible like Epstein demanded we will have to adjust pay so that working Americans can AFFORD health care and be "responsible". We certainly don't expect businesses to run making less than they spend to run the business. But we expect millions of working people to work for less than it costs to "run" a person.
Otherwise, to demand that wages remain low with low minimum wages that do not provide an individual with the means to buy the basic necessities to live safely is to demand that a Slave Class is built into the system for the use of the economic enjoyment of another class. Slave Class being defined as a group of people that are agreed upon by the group as lawful to exploit.
So Republicans need to put their money where their mouths are and demand that working people are paid a wage that can accommodate these high health care costs.
It’s a quaint notion, that hermits, mountain men and lone Wild West gunfighters would deride: that individuals can co-exist without resort to some measure of “force.” Alex Eptsein would suggest that the nature of human beings to submit instinctually, to “volunteer” to co-exist with other humans and share resources. That must be why there are armies, navies and air forces. That must be why there are judges, prosecutors and police. That must be why there are laws and statutes governing human behavior. That must be why colleges and universities have often seemingly arbitrary standards allowing to some and denying to others the opportunity to develop their minds and expand their horizons. That must be why businesses hire some and discriminate against others. That must be why health insurance companies operate on the principle that some can live, and others must die in the pursuit of profits.
Epstein apparently is blind to the fact that “force” is all pervasive, and is employed in all levels of human endeavor, not merely governmental. Individualism, and the individual’s ability to change reality through proper use of his mind, is limited by individuals with the same ideas and who want to occupy the same turf. Individuals must be compelled to yield or to share; it is also an unfortunate fact that some groups in this country don’t like the idea of sharing the general prosperity. Epstein’s remarkably naïve and simplistic ideas of individualism and voluntary civilized behavior is not hard to understand; after all, this is a man who spends most of his time in a right-wing bubble chamber, doing nothing but “using his mind” to cook-up new rationales to maintain the status quo when the world is crumbling around him.
Quark,
Sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner. Rather than have this buried at the end of Thursday's page, I'll try to get a post together for Friday's page. That way, more people will see it and if anyone disagrees, there will be plenty of time to post their views.
I want you to know that my comment wasn't in any way a criticism of you. It was more of an expression of frustration that no one seems to notice the negativity, divisive nature and bigotry that frequently comes out in Mark's posts.
The difficulty will be in trying to keep my post to a reasonable length. I try to back up my comments with facts and there's such an abundance of evidence to back up my comments.
I think you know that I think the world of you because of your energy, commitment and good heart. And since your recent post to Thom dealing with some of the personal struggles you've had to overcome, I consider you a hero.
It's precisely your kindness and your open minded attitude that I appreciate about you and that I find totally lacking in Mark's posts. I hope I'll be able to make my point clearly and concisely on Friday's blog.
Darn it . . . I read THURSDAY August 5th and shoulda realized that that Thursday is AUGUST 6TH.
THX Thom- I just set up all our area town meetings per the AFL Challenge and informed our giant email list and gave out the recess rally site- thx for all the info!
I will never forgive the fascist overlords for turning something impolite and homo-erotic into sullied and despicable by lying to the more ignorant and huddled of the masses. will never forgive the fascist overlords for turning something impolite and homo-erotic into sullied and despicable by lying to the more ignorant and huddled of the masses.
In the late 1970s, tea-bagging was a sex act between to consenting (usually both males) adults. In the mid 2000s, video games and pro-wrestling turned tea-bagging into an insult over the defeated. Now the corporate media and ultra-right wing-nut have flipped the Boston Tea Party (a populous uprising against corporate tax breaks by the royal stock holders for their own company) into defending cartel profits by those with IQs under the 50th percentile.
Richard L. Adlof -
Actually, I don't think of Obama in either of the ways in which you characterized him. I think he's just a pragmatist.
Not that I support any deal with Pharma, but I can see where it'll be easier to enact reform with their passive support than with their active hostility. Whereas I have yet to see any of those alleged pro-reform ads from Pharma, neither have I seen any anti-reform ads from them.
As I've stated here before, the ads that we do see from drug companies are NOT about selling pills. They're about leveraging the media and controlling the message. So, while I object to any deal that prevents negotiating drug prices, I can see where the administration might take the position that some kind of deal, with a BIG player, might be a necessary evil.
Oh did I say I loved Ellen Radtner (spelling) but she still needs a better telephone!
On Obama and Big Pharma:
I know that progressive-types lied themselves into believing that the just-right-of-middle-of-the-road, corporatist Senator from the Great State of Illinois was one of them BUT selling out does not apply to folk already bought by an industry and a dogma of corporate supremacy.
President Obama is not We, the People,’s President. He is just not single-minded, knee-jerk recessivist.
Trading Polyester Suits for Sweaters. . . Speaking of Faux Noise . . .
I don’t know if you missed the exchange between Bill O’Reilly and Dennis Miller regarding the Cash/Cars for Clunkers program. O’Reilly and Miller were speaking in ‘code’ – that not-so-thinly veiled, recycled (stale) bigotry similar to the crap that has been coming outta Pat Buchanan for the last several months.
Much similar to the much repeated mantra: “Don’t wear white after Labor Day.” (The ‘rule’ came about because many traditional Jews wear all white on Yom Kippur . . . BUT it is cool for snow bunnies to dress all in white to ride the slopes. Sigh).
Long Version: In the mid 1700s, Jews were forced to Ghetto of Venice. By law, one of the few trades open to the Erbraica was the reselling of garments, the ‘Schmatta’ (rag) trade. In a number of the Southern, agriculture-oriented States, there were similar laws on the books under the 14th Amendment made those laws (mostly still on the books but unenforceable) illegal. At least they didn’t use the old punch-line, “It’s new to Jew.” (the pun based loosely on the phrase “It is new to you.” which implies that only the bitter dregs are good enough for Jews).
In short: Our good friends O’Reilly and Miller were belittling the ‘Cars for Clunkers’ program by calling it “Jewish”.
The bigots of the South would not have missed the reference . . . Many are repeating this piece of wit at water coolers all over the place. Whereas, folk of the more enlightened areas tend to totally miss this crap.
Right on Richard - are you listening to the news about the lady who drove the wrong way in NY? was it? We first learned it was Vodka and pot, but now lawyer is saying she also had a painful mouth abcess/. If its anything like the pain I am feeling today- perhaps this explains her need for pain relief.
BTW- I without insurance did find a Dentist advertizing for folks just like me locally and offered deals to pay cash with. Then, the pharmacy charged me only a third when they learned I had no health insurance for the anti biotics. Maybe that lady might have asked for help but so many of us have too much pride to say what is really going on with us.
ps- herbal care was working, but too time intensive to make, apply etc, if I wasnt working the number of hours I do- I am sure I might have stopped it as I have in the past, when unemployed.